Just got played by employer

Applied for an internship at this asset manager (>$500b AUM), was a general job description looking to hire for a handful of teams, i saw the one i was interested in (research team for a specific asset class) and applied.

Interviewer didnt work in any of those team, said will get placed on whatever team they see fit. Offer just has the general role, did not mention which team, I didnt have other offer at the time, so I signed out of desperation...

I've stated my preference numerous times during and post interview with both HR and interviewer. I even have direct sector experience of the team i was interested in. 

After signing the offer, was told im being placed on a support team, think operations, trade management, etc. 

Sorry for the rant, however I can't help with feeling manipulated and tricked, what should I do?

They're a huge player locally with international presence, so i really dont wanna burn any bridges.

12 Comments
 

Nothing was promised until i signed the offer, essentially what they did is bundling FO MO and BO roles all into one single job posting, there is equity research, credits and LDI, then there is risk management, trade management, and asset allocation, etc. 

What i really intended to apply to is just 1-2 specific FO teams that could drive investment decisions (especially i since i had very relevant experience), but i was only told which team i'll actually be working on until AFTER i signed the offer, which seems more like a support role. 

This is mainly why I feel tricked because the roles are so different in nature and nothing was promised during the whole recruitment process.

And I'm afraid of getting blacklisted if I renege. 

 
Most Helpful

Unless you have other offers, suck it up, keep your head down and start working on your CFA. If this is just an internship, it's not the end of the world. Use it as an opportunity to learn as much about the industry as you can.

A potential way to spin this is to try and network internally throughout your internship and build relationships with investment personnel. In the longer run, this could yield a role that is more to your liking. However, if you go down this route, you should tread very, very carefully - if your boss finds out you have no interest in what you're doing, you're toast. 

As the commenter above suggested, you can always try to leverage this into something better when looking for graduate roles.

 

They very likely knew i won't be interested in the team. Just not a good fit all around, talked to someone from the team and found out that you need to know python for the role. I had 0 coding experience, turns out they only gave me the offer because they liked that i did well in a PM competition at school (this trade execution team has frequent communication with the PMs). They even expressed that I should take some online coding courses before starting and the firm will cover the costs...

A potential way to spin this is to try and network internally throughout your internship and build relationships with investment personnel. In the longer run, this could yield a role that is more to your liking. However, if you go down this route, you should tread very, very carefully - if your boss finds out you have no interest in what you're doing, you're toast. 

I'm planning to work my ass off with the investment team but didn't know it's such a big deal. Do I have to keep this from my team/manager at all costs? I mean learning about diff aspects of the firm shouldn't be that bad right?

 
WestCoastChimp4521

If it's just an internship it doesn't really matter: 

If it's full time then you definitely want to reneg and be very clear they misled you through the process 

also going forward you do NOT want to be involved in a company like this. It won't get better 

It’s easy to think this was some sort of mistake; but please remember the recruiters have been at this for years and know exactly what they’re doing 

 

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